About

$25,163

139

Open your door to Tails Up – a vet-formulated, complete and balanced plant-based fresh dog food! 100% Cruelty-free and full of super food ingredients. (And help heal the planet while you’re at it!)

We’re on a mission to disrupt two industries. First, the $30 billion pet-food industry that consumes 30% of the meat produced in the U.S. Second, the industry that produces that meat in a way that is inhumane and also happens to be killing us, our pets, and our planet.

Photo Credit: Real Happy Dogs

ABOUT

Hi, I’m Amanda and I’m the founder of Tails Up. I’ve been an animal lover for as long as I can remember. And cooking has always been one of the most natural ways I express my love for those around me – including, of course, my dogs!

My passion for animals and food evolved over time into making more conscious food choices. It wasn’t just about my own health - I have become more aware of how each of our decisions about food affects the world.

When I started to make changes to my diet, switching to eating mostly plant-based whole foods, I also started to reconsider how I was feeding my dogs. After all, my dogs are my family, and I want to make the best decisions for them.

But I couldn’t find a food that reflected my values about food and the food system. I wanted to feed my dogs a complete and balanced fresh food, at least in part. I quickly realized that even the most premium pet foods were mostly offering “human-grade” meat. While that is far better than what's in most commercial pet food, “human grade” meat is still processed meat from the industrial meat industry – in other words, the very same meat that we have been steadily rejecting in our own diets and know is ruining the planet.

And, knowing that “human-grade” meat nonetheless came from the animal agriculture industry presented another discomforting reality: it was increasingly harder for me to justify the suffering of other animals to feed my pets, especially in quantities of twice a day!

Photo Credit: Real Happy Dogs

LET’S FEED OUR PETS THE WAY WE REALLY FEED OURSELVES

Imagine a vet-formulated plant-based fresh dog food, that your dogs LOVE and that you don’t have to feel guilty about! I teamed up with Dr. Remillard and Dr. Abood, two renowned veterinary nutritionists, to create just that.

Just like food companies creating plant-based products for human consumption, we developed a plant-based fresh dog food that is healthy, cleaner, more environmentally friendly, and more humane. We're in the middle of a food revolution, and applying the concerns we have about processed meat in our own diets to our pet’s diets is an essential part of this shift away from animal agriculture and all its harmful effects towards plant-based alternatives.

Photo Credit: Real Happy Dogs

WHAT'S IN THE FOOD

We're giving your dog all the protein it needs through plant-based meat and legumes! With Tails Up, your dog will get all the meaty taste and texture it loves, but using 100% plant-based ingredients. Dogs, like people, have super foods such as vegetables, fruits, healthy oils and fats, nutritional yeast and parsley! We've included that, too! All of the ingredients are cleaner than processed meat. And we source everything in the United States -- including all of the essential nutrients and supplements.

PLANT-BASED FOR YOUR PET'S HEALTH

It’s about health. I was careful not to make an ethical decision about feeding my dogs that would jeopardize their health. So I was thrilled to learn that my dogs could thrive – and possibly be healthier – on a plant-based diet that removed processed meat from their bowls.

We know from our own diets that commercial meat – full of pesticides, anti-biotics, growth hormones and other harmful contaminants – is killing us. Commercial meat causes cancer, diabetes, heart disease, allergies, among other conditions. This is the same for our pets! It comes down to the food we eat.

Most commercial pet foods contain animal protein that is unfit for human consumption. But even the most premium pet foods, which do better by using “human grade” meat, fall short of what our pets deserve. That is because “human grade” meat means nothing more than processed meat from industrial factory farms. It doesn’t mean grass-fed or organic. “Human grade” meatis the same processed, contaminated meat that we have been turning away from in our own diets. Concerns about “human grade” meat have made humans more conscious about eating more plants and less meat entirely. So why not apply those very same concerns to our fur kids?

Photo Credit: Real Happy Dogs

BUT CAN DOGS BE PLANT-BASED, EVEN IN PART?

Yes! Dogs, classified as carnivores, have evolved over thousands of years as omnivores. This means their systems - like ours - can derive nutrients from a variety of sources like fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, as well as animal products. They have even evolved to digest starches 28 times better than wolves. Don't fall for clever marketing that tells us dogs are like their wolf ancestors! Dogs have nutrient requirements, not ingredient requirements.

Dogs can thrive on a plant-based diet. Plant protein also lacks all of the contamination-risks and diseases associated with animal proteins. In fact, one of the longest-living dogs in history was Bramble, a vegan dog who lived to be 25!

Photo Credit: Real Happy Dogs

PLANT-BASED FOR THE PLANET

I want to know that I am not destroying the planet by what I feed my pets.

Here’s the problem. We're in a climate crisis, and most can agree that animal agriculture is ruining the environment. We’re running out of land to raise livestock, and polluting our drinking water and air with food waste. Animal agriculture has a greenhouse gas footprint that rivals every car, truck, bus, ship, airplane, and rocket ship combined.

The pet food industry is a big problem within this problem. Our pets eat 30% of all meat in the U.S. If the U.S. pet food industry was ranked as its own country for meat consumption, it would rank number 5 in the world – behind the U.S., Russia, China, and Brazil. Premium pet food companies making raw and fresh food using “human grade” meat are increasing this demand at a time when we need to decrease our meat consumption.

There’s a better way to feed our pets. So why not start reducing our meat intake with our dogs?

PLANT-BASED FOR THE ANIMALS

We know the sad truth: animals crammed into metal sheds with barely enough space to stand, pumped full of anti-biotics and hormones, and committed to a brutal, lonely life that ends in terror and pain. It’s time to make the connection between the animals we adore – our pets – and the animals we feed them.

This is Henry. photo credit: The Gentle Barn

HELP TAILS UP LAUNCH

It’s time to transform how we feed our pets. It’s time to disrupt the pet food industry relying on an unkind and unsustainable industry.

After nearly a year of R&D, Tails Up plans to launch our first two recipes to the world next year. We’re a lean team on a mission, which is why we’re trying to raise $25,000 in funds on Kickstarter today.

WHAT’S THE MONEY NEEDED FOR

I have funded R&D so far. I have funded all of the test recipes and food. I have also funded the website, which is where we will sell Tails Up direct to consumers.

The money raised will enable Tails Up to complete R&D and begin production in a USDA commercial kitchen facility. The expenses to launch include ingredients, manufacturing, packaging and distribution. We’ll order recyclable packaging, which costs twice as much as regular packaging! Packaging set up costs also include printing plates and an initial production minimum order.

Stretch Goals: If we go past $25,000 in funding, this means we can fund R&D and testing of our next plant-based ground beef recipe that is already in the works!

With your support, we can provide our pets the healthiest and freshest nutrition through a plant-based diet, while also healing the planet and reducing animal agriculture.

Risks and challenges

We are extremely confident that this product will be worth the backing. We will keep you informed of any changes to the recipe to better suit larger-scale production or any additional unexpected challenges that might arise.

Let’s face it, we’re creating a new product category – plant-based fresh dog food! That may be challenging but when you’re trying to make the world a better place, the risks are worth the reward! Thank you for being part of the change.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $30 or more
About $30

Tails Up "Topper" Taster

Get a "Topper" Taster to give your pup a taste of Tails Up alongside their regular food. At this level, you'll get two 16-ounce containers of our first two recipes (one container of each recipe) delivered to your door so that your dog can fall in love before we release to the public!
**PLEASE NOTE Unfortunately, we will only be launching regionally at first, so we can only offer the Topper Taster to backers in the following states: NY, NJ, CT, DE, MA, RI, VT, PA, VA, DC.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

Double "Topper" Taster + T-Shirt

Back us at this level, and get a double "Topper" Taster. You'll get four 16-ounce tasters of our first two recipes (two containers of each recipe) delivered to your door. In addition to your dog's taste of Tails Up, you'll get a custom Tails Up t-shirt for yourself!
**PLEASE NOTE We can ship the t-shirts anywhere in the U.S. But, we will only be launching regionally at first, so we can only offer the Topper Tasters to backers in the following states: NY, NJ, CT, DE, MA, RI, VT, PA, VA, DC.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

Just the Swag Without the Food

Don't have a dog but want to deck yourself out in Tails Up swag? We get it! Back us at $50 or any higher amount, and we'll send you one of our super soft custom Tails Up t-shirts and a custom Tails Up hat all inside a Tails Up tote!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

Just for the Dogs!

This is a special reward just for the dogs. Back us at this level, and get a TRIPLE "Topper" Taster. You'll get six 16-ounce containers of our first recipes (three containers of each recipe) delivered to your door before we open to the public! We'll also send your dog its very own custom Tails Up t-shirt designed and made by Pawmiscuous!
**PLEASE NOTE We can ship the custom dog shirt anywhere in the U.S. But, we will only be launching regionally at first, so we can only offer the Triple Topper Taster to backers in the following states: NY, NJ, CT, DE, MA, RI, VT, PA, VA, DC.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

Tails Up Credit + T-Shirt

For supporting us at this early stage, you'll get a Tails Up credit to use when we launch to the public. Back us at this $150 level and receive a $200 Tails Up credit! In the meantime, we'll send you a Tails Up t-shirt as a heartfelt thank you for joining our mission to be disruptive.
**PLEASE NOTE Unfortunately, we will only be launching regionally at first, so the credit will only be redeemable to backers in the following states: NY, NJ, CT, DE, MA, RI, VT, PA, VA, DC.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $250 or more
About $250

Extra Credit When We Launch

For supporting us at this level, you'll get more Tails Up credit to use when we launch to the public. Your pledge of $250 will get you a $350 Tails Up credit! In the meantime, we'll send you a Tails Up t-shirt and hat as a heartfelt thank you for joining our mission to be disruptive.
**PLEASE NOTE Unfortunately, we will only be launching regionally at first, so the credit will only be redeemable to backers in the following states: NY, NJ, CT, DE, MA, RI, VT, PA, VA, DC.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

Bigger Tails Up Credit + the Goods

For backing us at this $500 level, you'll get a $650 Tails Up credit to use when we launch to the public. In the meantime, we'll send you a Tails Up t-shirt and hat for yourself, a custom shirt for your pup, ALL inside a Tails Up tote as a heartfelt thank you for joining our mission.
**PLEASE NOTE Unfortunately, we will only be launching regionally at first, so the credit will only be redeemable to backers in the following states: NY, NJ, CT, DE, MA, RI, VT, PA, VA, DC.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

Dinner for 2 in NYC and Tails Up Credit

At this level, next time you are in New York City, you will get a three-course dinner for 2 (yes, including drinks!) at Candle 79. You'll also receive a $1250 Tails Up credit when we launch to the public. In the meantime, as a heartfelt thank you for backing us at this generous level, you'll also receive a Tails Up custom t-shirt and hat, custom shirt for your pup, ALL inside a Tails Up tote.
*PLEASE NOTE Unfortunately, we will only be launching regionally at first, so the credit will only be redeemable to backers in the following states: NY, NJ, CT, DE, MA, RI, VT, PA, VA, DC.